Means for washing gases



May 19, 1925.

A. J. KOEHLER MEANS FOR WASHING GASES Filed June 22, 1925 INVENTORtramwaar 1 Z A TTORNEIS PM m, 19,1925.

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combustion engines, and it consists in the combinations, constructions,and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a means for washing gases inwhich the exhaust ses are passed through a reservoir 5r highly agitatedwater or other liquid solvent so that the poisonous contents of thegases may be absorbed by the water.

A further object of my mvention is to provide ameans for washing gasesin which the articles of carbon and solid products of combustion areabsorbed, thereby precluding the occurrence of smoke clouds at theoutlet manifold.

A further object of my invention is to provide ameans for washin gasesin which a plurality of paddle whee s are employed for agitating watercontained in a suitable reservoir, the paddle wheels being actuated bythe impact of the exhaust gases for the driving paddle.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means for washing gasesin which means is provided for preventing the accumulation of the waterin the reservoir at one .end thereof and in which a shower of water iscreated in the reservoir, thus exposing a large'quantity of the watersurface to the exhaust gases at the end of the condenser. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed that is compact in form, in which back pressure is relativelyslight, and which is thoroughly practical for the purpose intended.

Other objects and advantages Wlll appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming partof this application, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of anembodime t f y in ent am and Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line22 of Figure 1.

In carr dug out my invention, I make use of the or inary typeof'internal combustion engine in which the products of combustion areconducted through an exhaust manifold 1 from the cylinders of the-en ineto a point where the gases are liberate Ordinarily, these gases ifliberated through a muflier which is intended solely for the purpose ofabsorbing the sound of the explosions in the cylinders, the poisonousproducts of com-- bustion, together with clouds of carbon, are permittedto .be blown out through the muflier and delivery opening. In my pres-'ent invention, I do more than merely elimi nate the sound of the exlosion, by accomplishing the absorption 0? the poisonous ingredients ofthe gases, and also by absorption of the carbon particles. This is doneby the provision of a substantially cylindrical reservoir consisting oftwo parts 2' and 2 s lit longitudinally and riveted to one anot er at 3(see Figure 2)-. One end of the cylindrical member 2"2 is closed by asubstantially hemispherical shell 4 consisting of two parts riveted toone another at 5. The shell 4 is arranged to fit snugly over the openend of the cylindrical member 22" and is riveted in place by means ofrivets 6. p

The opposite end of the cylindrical member 22 is closed by means of ametal plate 7 securely riveted to the inner wall of the c lindricalmember by means of rivets 8. T le'plate 7 has centrally located thereina bronze bearing 9.

A second plate 10, similar in construction to the plate 7 and havin abronze bearing 11 in axial alinement w1th the bearing 8, is disposed inthe opposite end of the cylindrical member 2-2 and is securely held inplace also b means of the rivets 6 which extend throug the hemisphericalshell, the side walls of the cylindrical member, and throu h outwardlyextending flanges 12 of the plate 10.

-A shaft 13 is rotatably mounted in the bearings 9 and 11. The purposefor providing bronze bearings is so that these bearings will not bedamaged by the high temperatures of the exhaust ases and by the water 14which is containe in the reservoir.

A gauge glass 15 is fixed to the plate 7 below the water line 16 of thewater 14 (when at rest) so that the level of the water in the reservoirmay be, ascertained from an ins ection through the glass 15. It should enoted that the normal level of the water in the reservoir is slightlybelow the shaft 13.

A plurality of semi-circular corrugated partitions 17, spaced at equaldistances from one another, are disposed in the upper half of thereservoir.- The exact configuration of these partition members may bemore clearly seen in Figure 2. In the present embodiment of my inventionI. employ four such partitions.

Three corrugated and perforated semicircular partition members 18 aredisposed in the lower half of the cylindrical reservoir and arestaggered laterally with respect to the partition walls 17.

Three paddle wheels 19, having-their outer ends in close proximity withthe inner wall of the reservoir, are disposed upon the shaft 13 atequally spaced intervals from one another and between adjacent sides ofthe partition walls 17 and 18, respectively.

A fourth paddle wheel 20. slightly heavier than the paddle wheels 19, isdisposed at the forward end of the shaft 13 immediately below the port21 which is connected directly with the exhaust manifold 1 0f theinternal combustion engine (not shown).-

Means for filling the cylindrical reservoir with water is provided in afilling tube 22 disposed at the rearward end of the condenser and havinga cap 23 thereupon which may be removed when the reservoir is to befilled. A drain plug 24 is disposed in the lower wall of the cylindricalreservoir substantially at its mid point, and is also provided with acap 25 by means of which the water in the reservoir may be drained byremoval of the cap.

A delivery pipe 26, communicating with the interior of the cylindricalreservoir at its upper and rearward end 27, is arranged to be supportedso that its outer end or outlet is in a convenient place at the rearportion of the motor vehicle.

A pair of supporting brackets 29 are provided for securely fixing thedevice upon the under wall of the motor vehicle.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be' readily understood. Let us assume that a motorvehicle on which my improved means for washing gases is employed, hasbeen run for some time in a garage and that the owner of the vehicle isconducting certain repair work' which may only be accomplished While themotor is in operation. It is well known that many vehicle owners do notrealize th danger of carbon monoxide poison due to the presence ofmonoxide gases in the products of com bustion. This gas is odorless anddeadly. If the motor vehicle is of the ordinary type and the gases arenot-absorbed by a proper medium 7 rovided for the absorption ofl gases,the reathin of the air in the'garage may cause severe i l ess or evendeath of the fold, and theport 21, and impact of these gases upon t erelatively heavy paddle wheel 20, will cause the paddle wheel to turnrapidly. This in turn will drive the shaft 13 and cause the movement ofeach of the paddle wheels 19. The result will be that the water 14 inthe reservoir will be greatly agitated. As the water is agitated,

it will be thrown upwardly against the corrugated sides of the partition17 and will fall back in a shower to the bottom of the reservoir.

A rapid churning of the water at the bottom of the reservoir will beconstantly maintained and as the gases pass through the reservoir ontheir way to the delivery tube 26, the poisonous ingredients, as well asthe solid particles of the products of combustion, will be absorbed bythe water and only steam and washed gases will be emitted through thedelivery tube 26.

The movement of the gases between the partition walls 17 and 18 willalso eliminate the sound from the explosion of the fuel in the cylindersin precisely the same manner as. the ordinary type of mufiier in whichthe I sound waves are caused to pass through a zig-zag path.

One of the principal advantages in having the partitions 17 and 18corrugated is so that a relatively large surface 1s provided over whichthe water may be splashed, thereby greatly increasing the exposedsurface of the water to the exhaust gases. The purpose of theperforations in the partitions 18 is to permit the draining of the waterfrom the reservoir and to provide for the establishment of a uniformlevel of the water 14 throughout the reservoir.

A further and most important time at 1 which my improved condenser is ofuntold benefit to the vehicle driver is at times when the motor vehicleis necessarily hrottledfi down as in waiting for a trafiic signal at acrowded crossing. As the engine of the motor vehicle is idling, theaccumulation of oil in the cylinders is often high and the fuel in themixing chamber is permitted to accumulate in larger quantities thannecessary. Such idling of the engine invariably causes the production ofgreat clouds of carbon and gases when the engine is starte upon theproper signal by the trafiic ofiicer. It does not take many vehiclesupon a bou-

